The invention relates to a device for the permanent recirculation of lubricant escaping from leakages at sealing elements of an escalator or moving walkway drive.
Drives of escalators and moving walkways are notable for low peripheral speeds that are due to the fact that the respective escalator or the respective moving walkway may only be operated at a low transport speed for safety reasons. Maximum peripheral speeds of only 20 rotations/minute are often achieved at the driven shaft. For sealing against escaping lubricant, usually dynamically acting seals, such as for example rotary shaft seals are used. It has been found that such sealing elements often fail after only two or three years of operational use, and to repair them divided sealing elements that are glued to the corresponding structural components are often used. However, such a repair often fails after only a few days.